Palm Sunday

Yep! Just look at that new hair do. I'm not too crazy about the short bangs, but I think it helped him get into character. Philip is dressed to play a towns person on Palm Sunday. This was the first event in which I was nervous for him. My hands were sweating! (I know there will be more of those moments to come.) I wasn't sure if he would start crying or see one of his grandparents and run to them. But he did great, and I was proud!

We are Home!

Hi everyone!

First off, Timothy and I would like to thank our family and friends for the prayers and help during all of this. We arrived home today around 1:30 and couldn't wait to see Philip. The doctors in Cleveland sent Timothy home with the suspected diagnosis of Susac syndrome. As far as we know, Susac is a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the blood vessels of the corpus callosum in the brain. There are only a couple hundred cases in the world. Timothy starts treatment on Friday, which will be 5 days of steroids (through IV) and IVIG. The process takes around 6-8 hours each day. We are praying this treatment will produce a clear MRI. If not, then we head back to Cleveland.

The last 3 weeks have been very trying. Timothy and I have struggled to keep a positive attitude. Monday night Timothy, Phyllis and I read through Job trying to understand God's purpose in all this when He lead us to this passage:

Job 42:1,2
"Then Job answered the Lord and said: I know that You can do everything. And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You."

We trust that God has lead us to this point in our lives for a reason and our prayer is that: He will be glorified in it all and we will have the strength to accept wherever this leads.

Trick or Treat

OK, this is the story of Philip's costume. I found this at Marshall's and Philip loved it. He carried it with him in the buggy all through the store. When Timothy got home I took Philip to his bedroom and put his costume on. When Philip walked down the hallway both Timothy and I were laughing so hard, then I said, "Timothy isn't it perfect he is going to be a rooster." Timothy's reply, "Kiera, that is not a rooster.....that is a hen." Poor Philip...I hope he does not hold this against me. But last year he was a hot dog so he has moved up the food chain....maybe next year....prime rib or lobster!!!

It was so fun to have all the cousins together! We had two power rangers, a batman, police officer, princes, chicken and a pumpkin.

Not too sure about her....

Pa's office was our first stop on Friday!

Mackie tagged along with us. As you can see she was Yoda! Love the ears!!!! She had to make sure Philip was close by. They are precious together.

Aunt Ni Ni teaches English to the international students at Marshall!

She has no idea we were coming so Philip walked into the office by himself, I think we surprised her!

All the students loved Philip and Mackie. Philip kept a close eye on Mackie. He acts like a protective brother to her.

This was Nikki's writing class.

Of course we couldn't leave Nonna out. Philip actually came home with some extra candy. I'm sure this is going to become a tradition he will look forward to.

Mackie started playing "hide and go seek" towards the end of our visit!

Hilton Head

It looks like we took everything but the kitchen sink....well, we did take a lot of stuff. Timothy was proud of his packing job, I have no idea how he packed all that loot. The plan was to leave at 3:00 am......I was so excited I seriously could not sleep. I felt like a little kid on the night before Christmas.


Ta-Da.......How awesome is this pool? It had everything.(except a swim up bar) We all were so impressed with the condo and its amenities. Aunt Connie struck gold!

Philip's first impression of getting into the ocean. I think Timothy lost a few chest hairs. Ha!

He loved the sand, though!

Our night out at Parrot cove!

This was Philip's favorite thing. He would have played in this all day!

Just relaxing!

My Aunt Connie and Philip. Philip would get really excited when Aunt Connie would come out of her room in the mornings. He was say, "Ooooooooooooh"!

Our pet for the week.

Trying on some shades and new shoes!

Pa and Philip

I love this picture!

This is how Philip ate the sand. Disgusting!

Eewww!

The last night we ate at the Weston and had Aunt Connie take some pictures. It was hard to choose which ones to post because they were all so good. Once again.... thanks Aunt Connie!

Oh, he is getting so big.....I can't stand it.

Where's Bryon and Erin? Well, they were sitting in class, studying for midterms, and working. :-(

We were glad Mom and Dad were able to come down towards the end of the week.

I have such a wonderful husband and handsome too!

Philip with one of his favorite people.

Come on! Can't you tell we're cousins?

Even though Anna may not look like the Collier side, she reminds me a lot of our Granny - she would do anything for anyone!

Update

"Help! Mommy cut my hair." Philip's hair was getting too long in the front so I decided to trim it. Philip sat very still in front of the TV while HI-5 was on. The bangs are a little shorter than I intended, but Philip was a very good boy. He is mesmerized by HI-5.

Big eyes!

OK everyone, this is Mackie!!! She spends the weekdays with us. The first week was rough (she really missed her Mommy), but we have settled into a routine and we miss her when she is not here. Philip shares his toys very well, he even tries to give Mackie his bottle. They are going to be great buds.

I think a double stroller is in our near future!

Eating Ravioli! You know he is part Italian (Mom always claims she is Italian).

Fun, Fun, Fun!

This cat loves Philip. It always comes over when we are out and sometimes naps on the back porch.

Philip's first birthday!

Papa grilled the hamburgers.

Every time a boat would come by the kids would run out on the deck and watch it. It was so much fun!

Most of the cousins - Chance, Nathanial, Philip, Samuel, and Marissa (minus JD and Lincoln)

I love Nathanial's face!

The adult table.

Philip definitely knew what to do with his cake!

He ate most of his birthday cake. Some of it ended up on the ground.

Philip's reaction of his new toys the morning after!

My pictures weren't that great. I was too busy. Thankfully, Aunt Debbie had a camera so I will post those pictures soon.

Todd and Rachel's Wedding

Last weekend we traveled to Lexington and attended my cousin, Rachel's, wedding. These pictures are from their first dance. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay in the church during the ceremony. (Philip has a tendency to be a little loud.) But, I did get to see Rachel before she walked down the aisle, and as you can see she was a gorgeous bride!

One of my favorite pictures of them. They make a beautiful couple.

Where we stayed!

This was so pretty and it inspired Mom to have Dad and Bryon paint their rocking chairs black. Sorry guys...:-)

Ha.... I loved his outfit - I hope he doesn't hate Timothy and I when he is older for some of the things we made him wear.

Philip loved these girls! The little one, Ella, was jumping and dancing for him - Philip thought she was the best thing ever.

My boy!

My roommate for the night! We had some great talks, and Erin said when she woke up in the morning Philip was staring at her! Ha...

I wanna dance!

Bryon and Erin helped a lot with Philip, they are so good with him!

Dancing with Nonna!

It was way past Philip's bedtime, but he stayed up until he couldn't hold his head up anymore!

Again, it was a great weekend. Seeing family is priceless and I feel very fortunate that I know my Dad's cousins and their kids and their kids. It is very special, and I think Uncle Jim, Aunt Jenki, and Granny would all be happy we stay in touch.